Today’s letters: A misguided occupation

Re: Global ‘Occupy’ Protests Run Gamut, Oct. 17.
As much as I enjoy being hectored about the evils of capitalism by the generation that would rather check their Facebook than face their chequebook, Canada’s economy and banking system remain the envy of the world. Of course, there is always room for improvement but these copycat occupations seem to be more about the hard left of our many trade unions seeking relevance in a world that is tired of their anachronistic ideology than any concrete grievance with Bay Street. Furthermore, the “Occupy Wall Street” concept was not the brainchild of Adbusters but a grassroots movement in Israel going back to mid-July. Their tent cities were filled with people seeking affordable housing, a chance to work, and the opportunity to send children to decent schools long before a bunch of smart-phone wielding chardonney-socialists of CUPE and Iranian regime admiring anarchists of the Canadian Peace Alliance started marching on Bay Street. Michael Ross, Victoria.

I would like to seize on reporter Joseph Brean’s observation: “As the anti-corporate protest movement Occupy Wall Street went global this weekend, it led to conflict in rough proportion to the economic problems of each country.” Keeping in mind that we are dealing with ostensible democracies, it seems the worse things are, the worse the protesters make it. Is there any rational argument that would lead one to conclude that a general strike to shut down Greece will help it pay its bills?
In Canada, where things are actually pretty good, the occupiers are relatively few in number and will accomplish nothing other than to annoy citizens trying to get to work and pay their way.
So it seems these protests have nothing positive to offer other than some cathartic enjoyment for those who have no clue of how to better their lives or their country. Clark Browning, Toronto.

The Occupy Wall Street protesters and their unfocused aims remind me of a protest group in Al Capps’ Lil Abner comic strip. That group was called SWINE, an acronym for Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything. At least with Al Capp, you knew it was meant to be funny. C.N. Johannesson, Calgary.

On Sunday at Occupy Calgary, I listened to a woman rail on about how aboriginal people nurtured the land, and how Canada has been so damaged by the non-aboriginals who followed.
I have news for her. The main reason early native Canadians did little damage is not because there were so few of them and they lived a primitive lifestyle. Unchecked disease and the harsh climate kept mortality high and their numbers low. Lack of industrial wherewithal gave them no means to do significant damage, let alone to improve their standard of living. I doubt there was an Indian game warden controlling how many animals were allowed to go over the buffalo jump. Nature easily maintained the upper hand.
Enter those dastardly whites.
Mortality of all declined. Population density exploded and industrial development flourished. And over succeeding centuries, many environmental mistakes were made. However, the quality of life subsequently improved for all.
Both this woman and I are here today, enjoying the good life we have both inherited, despite the good and bad deed of our respective ancestors.
So let’s quit the pointless blame game. We are all now in it together.
Let’s bury the hatchet and move on to accomplish something useful. Bill Caswell, Calgary

Obama proves that anyone can be president

Re: Anti-Romney Republicans Find Latest Saviour, Oct. 14.
I’m wonder if I’m the only one who noticed the irony in the innocuous quote in this story of the Brooking Institute political analyst Thomas Mann: “[Herman] Cain’s got the rhetoric to excite them, but lacks any plausibility as president.” This statement is truly reflective of the prevailing “in-thinking” of North American political and media intelligentsia.
Are we to believe that a guy who served briefly as senator and whose only experience before that was as a community organizer is somehow qualified to be President, while a man who has built and run a successful business isn’t? While people might not agree with Mr. Cain’s 9-9-9 platform and it may have some gaps, at least it’s a coherent platform that people can understand. So why is he less qualified than a guy who ran on platform of “Hope and Change?” Robert Vogel, Toronto.

The once-great United States

Re: Mulroney’s Message To Harper: Get Chummy With Obama, Oct. 4.
Brian Mulroney is living in the past. The United States is a country in decline. It has lost influence around the world, either because it can no longer defeat its enemies or because its going against the grain of history. The barbarians are closing in and there is nothing the United States can do about it except build even higher security walls.
The world is changing and where the leadership is to come from in the future is debatable. But one thing is for sure, it won’t be coming from south of our border. Roy Weston, Burnaby, B.C.

Re: Canada’s War Of Survival, C.P. Champion, Oct. 12.C.P. Champion states: “[Canada has] never been annexed or absorbed.”
I disagree. When 85% of our exports are dependent on the U.S. economy, when approval for an oil-exporting pipeline is held hostage by radical U.S. groups, when our defence is guaranteed by the U.S. military, when our economy is dependent on the U.S. economy to be successful, is that not equal to annexation? What choice do we have?
I guess it is “the mouse and elephant” relationship that Pierre Trudeau talked about. Brian Mattson, Edmonton.

Bad economics

Re: Deficit-Reduction Lessons For America, David Frum, Oct. 15.
Evidently David Frum’s beverage of choice is Keynesian Kool-Aid and he’s been swilling it with abandon. The government’s relentless expansion along with the manipulation of the monetary supply are what cause recessions and depressions to be longer and more painful than they would have otherwise been.
The idea that government can resolve economic issues is laughable. The government has two ways of raising revenues — printing money or taxation. The first is a tax on us all by creating inflation; the second removes money from the productive economy to be redirected to beneficiaries based on political expedience. Windmills anyone? Mr. Frum’s thesis is akin to a thief stealing your marble rye on the way home from the bakery, returning the empty bag and expecting you to be grateful. If more government was the answer would our problems not have been solved long ago? Jason MacKenzie, weeping quietly in London, Ont.

Recurring AFN vision problem

Re: Chief’s Fantasy Won’t Work, Kevin Libin, Oct. 15.
Kevin Libin reminds us that Shawn Atleo, national Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, protested the private member’s bill to force disclosure of chiefs’ salaries, a strange reaction for a reform-minded leader. Perhaps Mr. Atleo suffers from the traditional aboriginal leaders’ disease: They can’t see the Indians for the chiefs. F.M. Macri, Wellandport, Ont.

What really killed bingo in Canada

Re: The Last Days Of Bingo, Oct. 17.
Taxes and fees didn’t kill charty bingo games — no-smoking laws did them in. Attendance dropped dramatically when the total no-smoking laws came into affect. Bingo players are heavy smokers. Let them smoke and they will return Richard O’Mara, Port Dover, Ont.

Climate & weather aren’t the same

Re: A Master Plan For A Changing Climate, Don Forgeron, Oct. 17.
Don Forgeron’s exhortation that we must adapt to changing conditions is good advice, as it agrees with the principles espoused by Charles Darwin in how species thrive and survive. But I really wish that he didn’t confuse climate with weather. The two are totally different and their study consists of two different disciplines (climatology and meteorology).
One of the reasons that there is so little genuine debate over the possible phenomenon of climate change is that people arguing the issues often confuse climate with weather; especially if it furthers their argument, as in Al Gore’s linking Hurricane Katrina directly to climate change.
Likewise, crumbling municipal infrastructures such as storm sewers have little do with climate change and more to do with municipal politicians reluctant to spend money on unglamorous projects.
I agree with all of Mr. Forgeron’s suggestions, but I can’t see what they have to do with climate change. Klaus Rohrich, Cobourg, Ont.

Stick to fiction

Re: The Stories We Tell, excerpt from In Other Words by Margaret Atwood, Oct. 17
Ah, Margaret Atwood. Making pronouncements on a movie that I have seen at least 15 times (mostly between the ages of five and eight, with my eyes closed during the really scary bits).
Yes, who could forget that classic, The Crawling Eye? Only poseurs to credibility in science fiction would think that the title was “The Creeping Eye,” as Ms. Atwood called it. Who could ever forget the noble heroics of Forrest Tucker as he saved those huddled in the mountain chalet on Trollenburg Mountain from the giant eyeballs in that radioactive cloud?
Margaret, Margaret, Margaret. Stick to fiction. Golly! Mark Boughan, Cambridge, Ont.

Canada has lost a great leader

Re: Former Cabinet Minister Reg Alcock Dies, Oct. 15.
Reg Alcock was brilliant and thoughtful. He was funny and irreverent. With a booming voice, you knew when he was in the room. No — you knew when he was in the building.
Reg had a passion for government, and wanted to reform how it worked. He strived to improve public governance and efficiency — this was his focus as Executive in Residence in the Asper School of Business. Through this passion he changed our civil service, and Canada.
Reg understood the importance of people in government. He was a cheerleader for our civil service, and for our elected representatives — whatever their political stripe. He believed that there are extraordinary people in government, people deserving of recognition.
He always had time for his friends — I talked with him weekly. He loved his family, discussing the accomplishments his wife, Karen, and of his children with great pride, and cared deeply about Canada. Canada has lost a true leader. Glenn Feltham, president and CEO, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton.

Bush no criminal

Re: Canada Has A Legal Duty To Investigate This Man, letter to the editor, Oct. 15.
Amnesty International and Freedom Watch would do well to look beyond their deep-rooted hatred for George W. Bush and look at the circumstances faced by the former American president after 9/11. He inherited a weakened and dysfunctional intelligence community from Bill Clinton. That same community had become shy about raising awareness of the suspicious behaviours of members of certain ethnic groups because of congressional criticism. After 9/11, Americans wanted actions to secure the safety of America, and by extension, our safety as well.
Like him or not, Mr. Bush took action to secure the intelligence needed. A handful of captured enemy combatants were waterboarded over a short period of time, garnering valuable intelligence that prevented several other terror attacks. Tom Towler, Surrey, B.C.

E-bikes – a menace to society?

Re: No Pedals — Get Out Of My Bike Lane, Peter Kuitenbrouwer, Oct. 15.
Peter Kuitenbrouer makes a good point about the scooter-style of electric bikes. They are a menace to society, and as someone who drives about 800 kilometres a week, I have seen many e-bikes ridden by people who have no concept whatever of the rules of the road, whether those of common sense or the Highway Traffic Act.
I suspect that when the Ministry of Transport first allowed “e-bikes,” the only ones available were very expensive and in reality power-assisted 10-speed bicycles. The newer scooter-style ones are a different story all together. Their thin wheels are inherently unstable. But thanks to a Toronto bylaw loophole — designed to let children use the sidewalk while learning to ride — these scooters can be legally ridden on the sidewalk.
Their extra weight and speed makes them much more dangerous than a grown-up on a 10 speed. Anyone injured by an e-bike rider should sue the city for criminal negligence. Nicholas Brooks, Toronto.

Due to arthritis and age we aren’t able to walk as much as we once were, and are unable to enjoy the waterfront trail near our home in eastern Scarborough. That is the reason we bought our e-bikes, as they have enabled us to get out again and enjoy the pleasures of the waterfront. We are courteous riders, always aware of those around us, and obeying the rules that would apply to anyone sharing a space.
Perhaps consideration could be given to limiting the the size of e-bikes, allowing the smaller models but banning the larger ones. That way, seniors such as ourselves can continue to enjoy our communities. We have both recently passed our written driving tests so are capable riders and aware of the rules of the road. Take away out e-bkes, and perhaps our only alternative will be wheelchairs. Liz and Don Drury, Toronto.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.